Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: facilitators role in meeting.

[Kevin Wolf (dcn00056]

As a professional facilitator who works mostly on issues I care deeply 
about, I face the problem of not being a nuetral facilitator often.  In 
our co-housing group we rotate facilitators which means that often a 
facilitator is assisting the group in a process on a subject in which 
they often have an opinion and care  about. I teach facilitation so that 
the facilitator can participate.  For example, the Chairs of Boards of 
Directors often facilitate the meetings and an not expected to be neutral 
about the decisions their organization makes.  Here are some of the key 
components to the "active" facilitator:

1.  In meeting groundrules, get the groups consent on the rights of the 
facilitator: 
        facilitators  can interupt to ask speakers if they are on subject,
 being concise, not repeating others
        facilitator calls on people in the order their hands are raised, 
and the facilitator *can add themself into the order to speak on 
subject*.  It is critical that the facilitator never speak on subject 
without following the rules everyone else must follow.  

2.  Facilitators need to put their biases on the table when appropriate.  
Whenever they might be too involved, someone elese should facilitate that 
part. The group can tell the facilitator that they believe he or she is 
too attached to facilitate well.

3.  Decisions should be based on a foundation of previous decisions; the 
groups visions, goals, objectives, principles etc.  When this is solid, 
consensus is much easier and the active facilitator participation is 
grounded in all the past consensus the group has achieved.  

There is more to it but this is the basics.   

---
Kevin Wolf
724 N St
Davis, CA 95616
phone and fax: 916-758-4211

On Fri, 10 Jun 1994, Rob Sandelin wrote:

> I have wondered about this.  In what little I know of facilitation I 
> always thought the facilitator was in charge of the meeting Process so 
> the participants could focus on the meeting Content.  I also learned 
> somewhere along the way that facilitators need to be 100% nuetral on 
> the issue on the floor or their personal bias jepordizes their role.  
> If the facilitator holds important information on the topic wouldn't 
> this set them up for bias and therefore put them in a position of 
> taking sides?  I  have worked with outside facilitators who had no idea 
> of the subject and they very capabily ran the meeting process.  I have 
> also worked with facilitators  who came from within and which I felt 
> pushed a group towards a certain direction and in so doing, created a 
> trust problem.
> 
> Comments?
> 
> 
> Rob Sandelin
> Sharingwood
>